February 15, 2003
DID KELLER STAGE A COUP:
Disarming Iraq (The New York Times, February 15, 2003)The only way short of war to get Saddam Hussein to reverse course at this late hour is to make clear that the Security Council is united in its determination to disarm him and is now ready to call in the cavalry to get the job done. America and Britain are prepared to take that step. The time has come for the others to quit pretending that inspections alone are the solution.The Security Council, as we said the other day, needs to pass a new resolution that sets a deadline for unconditional Iraqi compliance and authorizes military action if Baghdad falls short. Without that, the French proposal that Mr. Blix and Dr. ElBaradei report again in mid-March is the diplomatic equivalent of treading water. It practically invites President Bush to take the undesirable step of going to war without the support of the Security Council. [...]
Mr. Blix and Dr. ElBaradei cannot be left to play games of hide-and-seek. This is not like Washington's unproved assertions about an alliance between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. There is ample evidence that Iraq has produced highly toxic VX nerve gas and anthrax and has the capacity to produce a lot more. It has concealed these materials, lied about them, and more recently failed to account for them to the current inspectors. The Security Council doesn't need to sit through more months of inconclusive reports. It needs full and immediate Iraqi disarmament. It needs to say so, backed by the threat of military force.
Has even the Times climbed aboard the war wagon? Posted by Orrin Judd at February 15, 2003 8:35 AM
I'm sorry, but not only have the UN ceased to be anything but a dictator's salon, the US has also lost any credibility. It would have been credible if bombs were falling on Baghdad right now, but instead I hear nothing.
I'm afraid Bush has surrendered to Chirac. Since that old corrupt weasel has no idea what to do with his recently acquired global leadership, I'm really frightened. The time for every evil dictator to unleash his horrible plans has come.
Peter:
That's a bit melodramatic. Saddam will be gone just as surely in April as he might have been in January and by giving the Franco-German hounds so much lead, it will hurt all the more when we jerk back on the leash
One senses the NYT has known for some time that its editorial stance on Iraq has been untenable, maybe even immoral. Yesterday's developments offered a nifty opportunity to shift positions -- better yet, doing it in the depths of a Saturday edition.
No matter. At least they're (somewhat) on board from here on out.